Gridding + Gesture Drawings

    In my studio class it went a lot better then I expected. After a horrible start back from break, I was shocked to see how much more motivated my class was. According to my calendar I created for my class, today was the last for the students to complete the gridding. Many of them moaned and groaned that they couldn't do, but guess what?! They ALL completed the gridding! Many of the students are even ahead of the schedule now. I am so happy to know that these students can do assignments and get them done on time. I feel much more stress lifted off my shoulders because they did such a great job today.

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      Next in my painting and drawing class, I started a lesson that begins with gesture drawing. This lesson focuses on learning how to draw a still life and use the pointillism technique. The students had to learn the importance of quick loose drawings in order to create a precise image. For the first step the students had to do many practice exercises of 20 second long gesture drawings. After awhile I would increase the amount of time for each drawing. When the students begin next class, they will have to gesture draw the still life object they brought in. The students will learn how to create different values from the object by using the pointillism technique in black and white. The students will then become confident in both techniques and later this week they will start a large still life and sketch it by gesture. The student’s still life will then also be completed with the pointillism technique although this time the students will use primary colors. The primary color scheme chosen will make the students aware of light and how to create secondary colors. From this lesson the students will understand the importance of quick sketches and how to create different hues. They will also learn how to draw, cut with a xacto knife, and make illusions with small dots.

       Learning how to create quick gesture sketches and mixing different hues are the first step of becoming a successful artist. These processes that are taught are the foundation to any art education. It is important for students to learn how to let go and create loose drawings so they can make art work that is proportional. Students in high school have a hard time drawing what they see, and usually draw what they think they see. Students aren’t taught the importance of letting go and to create searching lines that will help them define their image. Learning how other artists do gesture drawings and the students doing many quick sketches themselves will help them get use to using this technique. In an art class it is very also important to learn how colors combined make other colors; especially when far away and colors give the illusion of becoming different hue. Understanding how to create successful pointillism will help the students see the similarity of mixing colors and overlapping dots to make another hue.